Berlin ups the ante

 The German Navy recently cruised through the South China Sea.

the ship’s brief entry into this disputed area last week was the first of its kind in nearly two decades

This time they didn't stir the pot by transiting the Taiwan Strait.

When asked why the warship did not pass through the Taiwan Strait, Schonbach preached: “This time, we started with a small goal… Maybe next time we will take a trip on a bilateral basis (Taiwan Strait),” he said, the core of the German navy is Berlin’s “partners of interest”, not ” to resort to force”.

Predictably the CCP was less than impressed.

In recent years, when a country like Germany chose to send warships to cruise to change the way of talking, something special must have happened.

The CCP refused port entry to the Germans earlier in their Asian cruise.  Time to get more popcorn in. as the US, Oz and now the Germans look to defend access to international waters.

Talk about upping the ante.  Jacinda will probably sooner rather than later have to make a decision which side she wants to suck up to.